Retrograde Motion
by KChasm
Summary: He's supposed to be years ago. :drabble series:
1. Zero and Zero

I don't Persona 4 et cetera. Atlus.

* * *

><p>He opens his eyes. Closes them again, against the fluorescent glare, but the light is under his eyelids. He knows it'll be impossible to return to sleep, so he doesn't try—counts to ten, instead, and opens his eyes once more.<p>

His head hurts.

He's in a hospital.

His memory is vague—he's not sure what he did to get here, and that's probably a bad sign. Did a box fall on him? With the unpacking going on, it wouldn't be a shock—just more of his bad luck.

A better question would be—who's the guy with the cap?

* * *

><p>Rinky-dink in-my-spare-time workings.<p> 


	2. Blue on Blue

Naoto Shirogane is a detective with a serious reputation, if the glances are any clue. He is also Yousuke's employer.

Yousuke doesn't remember that.

Doesn't remember this man, or his expensively tailored suit. Doesn't remember taking this job he apparently has. Doesn't remember college—hell, Yousuke doesn't even remember high school, at least nothing after he arrived in Inaba. Just some unpacking for the store, and then—

But that's too painful, so Yousuke thinks about this man instead—this man who keeps looking at Yousuke so concernedly, dressed in his fancy blue suit.

What kind of suit is blue, anyway?


	3. Center Stage Shrink

His parents come to see him. They are old, far older than they should be. His father's hair is grey, and less; his mother's skin is wrinkled and loose upon her skull like a badly made costume.

They reach out to him, rustle his hair, and Yousuke can see the veins in their arms.

It is terrifying.

His father asks if he can remember him—if he can remember his mother. Of course, Yousuke answers, and his father smiles. Crevices run across his face. He tells Yousuke about Inaba, about Junes—tells Yousuke he had friends—

Not likely, Yousuke thinks.


	4. Blue on Blue II

The day he gets out of the hospital, Naoto brings him his clothes: trousers, a dress shirt, and a waistcoat.

A waistcoat.

"Very funny," Yousuke says, but it turns out not to be funny at all, and a reluctant change later Yousuke takes a look at himself in a mirror.

The face is familiar, vaguely, but the body belongs to a stranger, somebody with money. Drinks wine, maybe. Reads books by the fireside. It's certainly not fit for some high school chain store employee.

Yousuke tugs at the fabric. He thinks he can feel his skin move with it.


	5. Just Pretend

"You would drive, usually," Naoto says, "but considering your injury..."

Yousuke eyes the car dubiously. Wonders if it's gold, or just painted. "Seriously?" he says. "I don't even have a decent bike."

There is something familiar, though, about the vehicle, the motor's hum. Naoto's driving, but Yousuke can almost feel the wheel himself, beneath his palms. Gloves, he thinks, I'd wear gloves. Pull the stick. A cover, for rain—

It's calming, somehow. The memories, the skills—they're still there, under the surface, even if he can't remember them.

Maybe he can do this job, after all.


	6. Doubt

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"You are my personal assistant. As such, your duties vary."

"I don't cook, right?"

"You maintain records and bookkeeping, as well as make arrangements when necessary to travel by means other than automobile."

"But I don't cook, right?"

"You also take most incoming calls, and are expected to accompany me outside in mansion in case I have need for your assistance."

"But I don't cook, right? Because I totally can't cook. All I do for dinner is instant noodles—"

"No, you don't cook."

"Whew."


	7. Just Pretend II

Naoto tells Yousuke to turn in early—because he's still recovering, he's quick to stress. Yousuke laughs.

"I guess most days aren't this easy, huh?"

Naoto almost smiles. "No. In fact, you usually stay awake longer than I do."

And Yousuke's not exactly looking forward to that, but heck—it's his job, right?

Compared to the hospital's row of bricks, the bed in Naoto's mansion is nearly nonexistent. Yousuke passes out the moment he hits the sheets, vest and all. Two hours later, he wakes up and stumbles downstairs.

"Do I live here?" Yousuke asks.

He does.


	8. Know What You Like

It's satisfying, having a desk. It's more than he got at Junes, anyway, even though he was the boss' son (the old man was fair, if nothing else).

But it's complicated, too—working and living in the same building. Which isn't to say that Yousuke's complaining, or anything! He's got his own bedroom in a mansion, and a bed that could fit two of him—he'd have to be nuts to complain about that!

Alright, so part of him misses his parents a little, but still—mansion! Besides, they'd be happy to see him able to live this comfortably, right?


	9. Christmas at the Usual Time

Days pass. Snow falls. Yousuke's so busy he doesn't notice it's December until the ads go up.

"Do I have a girlfriend or anything?" he asks, one quiet evening.

Naoto peers at him strangely over his book, but it's okay. Yousuke already knows the answer. A girlfriend would have visited him in the hospital. Called, at least.

"Never mind," Yousuke says. "Forget it. What about you? Don't you have anyone to visit during Christmas?"

The phone rings. Yousuke never gets an answer; there's a rich man with a knife in his chest. Crime doesn't take holidays, apparently.


	10. Fogged Up Sight

"Stand by the door," Naoto tells him—and so he does.

The victim foresaw his death, requested Naoto by name. Yousuke watches Naoto work the crime scene and can see why: there's something in Naoto's eyes, something that sparked as he entered the room...

Desk, knife, blood and dust. Naoto studies it all, and Yousuke can sense the puzzle coming together around him even if he can't see the picture himself. He tries to understand it anyway, if only in his own head, but of course it's useless.

He's no detective.

That light, in Naoto's eyes—

He doesn't have that.


	11. Misstep

"I shouldn't have put you back to work so soon," Naoto says on the way back. "I apologize."

He shouldn't. Yousuke had one job—stop the criminal from escaping—and he blew it. When the guy ran, Yousuke practically stepped out of the way. He would've made it out the front door if that cop hadn't been there.

Naoto says it's alright, but the fact is, he let him down.

Yousuke suspects the old Yousuke would have delivered.

This Yousuke reached for the side of his belt when the man rushed at him, and still doesn't understand why.


	12. Desire

"So why didn't you have a date? I mean, you're famous, right?" Yousuke asks, sometime in January.

Naoto doesn't look up from his hardback. "I don't see what one has to do with the other."

"I mean, you're popular. You must get a lot of fan mail."

"I ignore it."

"Seriously? That's kind of cold..."

Naoto actually closes his book. Scowls. "I have no time for unnecessary romances," he says. "There is work to be done."

"Besides," he adds, "if I begin such a relationship, it will not be through mail."


	13. Gently Touched Down

He's been busy helping Naoto. Too busy. The realization comes one night, during that strange state of half-asleep. He still doesn't remember anything.

He hasn't _tried_ to remember anything.

That night, he dreams he's back at Junes, sweeping up for opening day. He's almost done—all that's left is the electronics section—but there's a man in his path.

"I have to clean this aisle," Yousuke says.

The man is impossibly tall. His face is hidden by sunglasses and a hundred blades. "Not yet," he says, and when Yousuke wakes up he can't remember what he was worried about.


	14. Relaxation of the Mind

Rich men dying mysteriously create good income. Rich men dying mysteriously in rooms locked from inside create better. They begin through the man's possessions that evening.

When Naoto starts nodding into a pack of letters, Yousuke looks at the clock.

"Let's stop for today," he suggests.

Naoto mutters a refusal.

Yousuke barely thinks. It just seems right, in that moment, to steal Naoto's cap and don it himself. "You're not fooling anyone," he says, headware balanced precariously. "Besides, you're not gonna catch anything important this tired, right?"

Naoto stares at him like he's lost his mind.

Yousuke returns the cap.


	15. Heartland

He's pulling drawers, testing the existence of empty space, and that's when he finds the photograph, face down, like someone took a shortcut cleaning up and forgot to put it back after. He turns it over and pauses. There's him, and there's Naoto, and—

He should know these people, is the thing, but he doesn't. Those grinning faces, that triumphant air—it's like a shot from one of those crappy growing-up flicks. Freeze frame, and the narrator says that he never forgot those shining teenage years he spent playing with his friends.

Nobody in those movies ever got amnesia.


	16. January Violence

_Now, a feller by the name of __**EmD23**__ has accosted me with something like a question, and that something like a question goes a little something like this: "KChasm, where've the rest of the Investigation Team been? Have they been hunting jackalopes through the Central Shopping District? Does this explain their conspicuous absence?"_

_To this I say, "Don't be silly! A jackalope would do its utmost to steer clear from the Central Shopping District. There's not nearly enough cover there, and the antlers would give it straight away—unless there were a sale on antlers on at the time, of course. No, you'd be much more likely to find a jackalope at the Samegawa Flood Plain."_

_I hope this has cleared up any confusion._

* * *

><p>The man with the knife's a surprise. Most murder attempts probably are, Yousuke will think later, but while it's happening he barely thinks at all. It's snowing, and he has the umbrella, and in a second he's snapped it shut into a makeshift sword.<p>

Yousuke will think many things later, actually. Things like: Should've kept it open. Blocked the knife. And, but only dimly: Swords were never _his_ trick.

But the blow's enough, even with the wrong stance. The man's off balance, and Yousuke drops the umbrella, ready to—

And there is _still_ nothing at his belt.

"Er," says Yousuke.


	17. Removed From Company

"Personal assistant", Naoto said, but Yousuke hasn't felt like a personal anything since he woke up with years gone. He figured he'd grow back into it once he accepted it—muscle memory, maybe—but now he's _sure_ he's the wrong guy in the wrong place.

He told Naoto this.

The response was surprise, then assurance. "Your support is indispensable," Naoto said. "I've been able to work more efficiently, now that you've returned to fielding intermediary tasks."

"Maybe. I feel like I should be doing more, though."

"Like what?"

He didn't have an answer then. He might have an answer now.


	18. Heavy to the Heart

The blade catches him in the side. He falls, from surprise more than pain, but it's _Naoto_ who cries out, and then—

He'll only remember it in snatches. There's a grin too wide. Naoto pointing his revolver. Someone speaks to him, and he understands the words, but they don't make sense ("Not so tough without your knives, huh? My _son_—").

Then a crack, and the voice goes away.

Someone's hurt, he thinks. He tries to stand, but there's a hand on his chest, keeping him down.

He stops trying only when he hears sirens.


	19. Call to Attention

His wound, it turns out, is embarrassingly superficial—barely needs stitches. The hospital pays more attention to the guy who took the end of Naoto's revolver to the skull.

Yousuke sits under Naoto's gaze and resists squirming.

"This is my fault."

And Yousuke didn't expect _that_. "Uh, _I'm_ the one who got stabbed here. You saved _me_. I don't know I'm cut out for this assistant stuff."

"Don't say that!" Naoto snaps. He collects himself: "Don't say that. You've always been serviceable in your role."

And then funny—Naoto looks _sheepish_.

"I...may not have been completely forthcoming," he says.


	20. Unconscious Work

The blade fits his fingers naturally. That scares him.

"You're kidding, right?" he laughs.

Now _Naoto_ looks like he's trying not to squirm. "I'm serious, I assure you—these were your primary means of offense."

"But these aren't even knives. They're—" He won't say it. Too _weird_. "—like something off a TV show. You had me using _these_? Sort of doesn't go with the image."

Naoto stares at him blankly.

"I mean, you're this fancy detective, and these are..." He trails off.

Naoto shakes his head. "You've misunderstood," he says. "You used these _before_ I ever met you."

Oh.

What?


	21. Like Sharks' Teeth

"Did I turn into a delinquent or something?"

His reflection doesn't answer.

The kunai fit comfortably, one in each hand. He tries to relax and his body shifts into a rough stance instead—the sort of posture it might be easy to stab someone from, maybe.

He unrelaxes, quick.

They even come with _accessories_—a set of sheaths, and he's not surprised when it turns out they fit under his coat, around the belt area. A lot of things are making sense, too much and all at once.

"They're as big as my arm," he mutters.

His reflection doesn't comment.


	22. The Blue Prince

Naoto apologizes, and explains, and the thing is, it basically makes sense. He woke up in the hospital with everything since high school a complete blank. It really _does_ make sense, if this was an effort to ease him into things that went all wrong.

You're an adult now. Also you're my employee. You're my secretary. You're my bodyguard. Did I mention you know how to fight? Maybe kill things? You use _kunai_.

Yeah, so he _gets_ it, that unloading all of that at once—maybe he wouldn't have taken it well.

It doesn't make it feel any less condescending.


	23. Like Sharks' Teeth II

He closes his eyes.

The blades hang from him. He can feel their weight. Imagine walking down the street with passing eyes unaware. Imagine he already _has_.

It's too clear an image to be wholly imaginary.

He tries to remember how the law works, when it comes to knives, but he comes up empty. It probably doesn't matter, anyway—the rules are different, when you're rich. Naoto has a car that costs more than his father's salary ever was and the plating is colored gold. _Gold_.

He takes a deep breath.

When he reaches, the blades jump into his hands.


	24. Colored by Emotion

The new case is a surprise to Yousuke. He tells Naoto that—that the phone's been silent—and Naoto admits he's been rerouting the calls.

Yousuke hates him, in that moment. How Naoto's been walking on tiptoes around him, watching him like he's waiting for a breakdown. "I'm fine," he says.

"You don't have to accompany me," Naoto says in that reasonable voice. "I'm well defended, even on my own."

"I'm _fine_. I have my knives—I'm well defended too. I can do _my_ job."

He's mouthing off to his boss.

But Naoto just nods grimly and lets him follow.


	25. For Reasons Unknown

_Updates start at "Removed From Company"._

* * *

><p>There's a dead woman on the floor. A secretary—like him, Yousuke thinks—and not the kind of victim who'd get the<em> Detective Prince<em> treatment except for who she works for.

Worked.

"Yousuke," Naoto says, "what do you think?"

Yousuke looks, but there's nothing there except for what he's already been told about. A woman, stabbed enough times to kill her. A file cabinet with a drawer open. Her boss, missing. Very Important Papers, gone.

"How should I know?" he asks, confused. "You're the detective."

The strangest thing is Naoto's reaction. He looks _pained_—and then he sets to work.


End file.
